St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-09-25
II =
TO THE MEMORY

III IdE ME MORY
FEMALE TRANGER, (:
Whose mortal sufferings terminated
on the 4th day of October, 1916, :
aged twenty-three years and {:
eight months.
This stone is erected by her disconso-:
Late husband, in whose arms she breathed:
her last sigh, and who. under God, did:
his utmost to soothe the cold, dull ear of:
death.
thee not.
To whom related or by whom begot;
"A heap of dust alone remains of thee ::
:'Tis all thou art and all the proud shall:
be-"
When l saw the tomb a bouquet of
fresh flowers was lying upon it. and
learned that nearly every day this oc-
ours, and the tomb is seldom without it's
tribute of flowers except in the extreme
wintry months. There is no man or
woman AleXandria-born who will not
readily recount to you the legend of the
Female Stranger, but they differ essen
TALLY in minor details, and indeed in
some of the principal points. One
thing is sure: the woman who
was buried there was unknown
IN Alexandria. as was the man
who claimed to be her husband.
They came to Alexandria upon a for
eign vessel and took quarters at the
leading hotel. She was a beautiful
young girl and he handsome and dis
Notwithstanding man. They had one
servant and gave every evidence of be-
ing people of high rank and great wealth.
The old legends of Alexandria are still
full of the stories, dimmed by distance
in time, of her beauty her jewels and
her magnificent wardrobe. The two
had the best quarters in the hotel; moth
ing that money could buy did
they deny themselves. but they
absolutely refused to make any acauain-
tances or give any clue to their identity,
and all inducements to the valet who
accompanied them were in vain. He
would never speak, and nothing could
be gathered about them beyond the be-
lief that they were English in blood and
noble in rank. The ship they came in
had sailed away, and her people knew
as little about her as the Alexandria
folks, and with her departure all clue to
them was lost.
ONE VERSION OF THE LEGEND.
One gentleman tells me that his
mother had often told him the story of
the beautiful Female Stranger. and he
has heard it told hundreds of times. His
mother and grandmother united in de-
claring her very beautiful young
woman, kind and gracious, evidently a
born lady: They say she and the gen
tleman with her were English in APP
pearance. She was above medium
height, with full, vOluptuous figure and
masses of blonde hair. Her eyes were
large and expressive, her mouth par
ticularly small and sweet. Her manner.
while dlgnlfled, was cOndeScending and
pleasant, and as she drove about Alex
andria no person ever appealed to her
in vain for charity. To the charitable
organizations she gave literally, but re-
fused to attend any meeting or receive
visitors.
Her husband, for so he declares him
self upon the tombstone, behaved much
after the same manner. He was hand
some, stately and dignified, and charmed
all those who came in contact with him
by his manners, wit and good breeding.
But all the meeting there was between
them and the people of Alexandria was
such as came by chance and could not
be avoided.
Five months after they came to Alex
andria, the young wife became jill with
one of those low fevers peculiar to a
newly settled country, and died. This
appears to be the general opinion, but
there are those who have it that she
died in childbirth.
Whenever the physician was present
either the husband or the valet was also
present. She was never allowed to be
alone with any person except those ac-
companylng her, and when she died she
lay in the arms of her husband, with his
lips pressed to hers.
Only he and the valet were present to
bury her. He sought the pleasant spot
where the tomb now stands, upon high
ground, and already taken for
cemetery by St. Paul's church. He
and the valet were the only mourners.
He stayed long enough to order
and see completed and placed over the
gave the elaborate and handsome tablet
as it now stands, left sum of money to
keep it in repair for term of years,
with a promise that he would come
again or send money when that was ex-
pended, took ship and sailed away and
was never heard of after.
That is the straight story of the Fe-
male stranger, as near as it can be
given from legend, files of papers and
general report. There are those who
assert that persons who saw the gentle
man In Alexandria afterward saw him
in New Orleans, and some even say that
he came to Alexandria years afterwards
and visited the grave of his wife.
THE MYSTERY OF THE TOMB.
Another story pretty well believed in,
and coming down from reliable author
ity, is that one evening vessel, evil
IDENTIFY foreign man-Of-war, anchored
just below Alexandria. During the
night the commander and two boats
crews came off and went to the grave of
the Femal Stranger, exhumed the re-
mains, took them to the ship, and at
daybreak dropped down the river and
disappeared. Many believe this story
to be>true, and that if the grave were
opened an empty vault would be found,
for the coffin, according to account, was
placed in sOlidly constructed stone
vault six feet beneath the surface.
Half dozen novels have been con-
structed upon OF woven in with all that
is known of the history of the Female
Stranger, and with so much fiction and
Imagination have still further served to
confuse and obscure the real facts. One
of these storles.is entitled Narration
of John Trust, translated from his
MSS" This purportS to have been
done by sWilliam F. Carne," and the
latter says by way of preface:
81 owe it to candor to say that the mem
Dries of the oldest inhabitants, the news